Political Heat

The Walker administration has slowed growth by refusing to acknowledge that capitalism requires strong consumer base What creates jobs? That question is likely to be on the minds of several Wisconsin voters this fall. Gov. Scott Walker, who promised at least 250,000 jobs created in his first term in office , is well short of his pledge (that’s a generous conclusion -- he’s not even halfway there). Whether voters will hold him accountable to that number or find the number Wisconsin has created as acceptable is yet to be seen.

Predecessor's share of jobs created during Wisconsin's recovery is higher in proportion to time his budget was in play You can say this about the governor: his optimism, despite the evidence of his policy failures, is surely something to envy. There’s no other explanation for how this governor can continue to say things are “working” in Wisconsin. After Madison’s WKOW published a story describing how the state had delayed its regularly scheduled release of the quarterly job numbers (a fact that was noticed by Jud Lounsbury five days ago ), the Department of Workforce Development issued a presser that showed the state had gained 28,653 jobs from March 2013 to March 2014. In the release, Secretary Reggie Newson said , “After losing 133,000 private sector jobs during the four years before Governor Walker took office, the latest 12-month actual jobs data available shows Wisconsin's economy is continuing to grow and add jobs for Wisconsin's working families.” If...

Why Scott Walker can’t shake off his John Doe problems Another set of documents from the not-so-secret-anymore John Doe investigation was released this weekend, describing in more detail what prosecutors meant when they said that Gov. Scott Walker was part of a “ criminal scheme ” in other papers released earlier this summer. From Politico : Newly released court documents include excerpts from emails showing that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s recall election campaign team told him to instruct donors to give to a key conservative group that would run ads for Walker and distribute money to other conservative groups backing him. Though, once again, no definitive case of wrongdoing against Walker can be made, the latest document dump shows that those he surrounded himself with told the governor to solicit donations and to funnel the money directly to Wisconsin Club for Growth . Doing so would allow donors to give unlimited amounts of campaign cash to the organization, anonymously ...

The "Wisconsin Comeback" meme put out by Walker, RPW, is in reality a "Wisconsin slowdown" Who would be better for improving employment in Wisconsin, Republican Gov. Scott Walker or Democratic rival Mary Burke? To some, the question may seem absurd. Wisconsin has created more than 100,000 jobs under Walker’s watch. As he and the Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) have put it, we seem to be having a “Wisconsin Comeback.” That job growth, however, is slower than it should be. Under the second year of former Gov. Jim Doyle’s last budget, which ended in June of 2011 (six months into Walker’s term), Wisconsin created 39,909 jobs. During the first year of Walker’s first budget, the state created 37,959 jobs (June 2011 to June 2012), and only 27,752 jobs in the year after that (June 2012 to June 2013). In fact, if you average those two years of the “Wisconsin Comeback” with the first year of the state's recovery (again, which was under Doyle’s budget), it’s cl...

The Badger State is riddled with its own problems related to racial prejudices in law enforcement A young boy is dead in Ferguson, Missouri. Much about this boy and the events of the day he died is in dispute -- such as whether he fought with a police officer or not , whether he robbed a store or was misidentified as a criminal, and several other aspects of his life that some have brought up, necessary or otherwise. There’s no disputing these facts, however: this teen was unarmed, and was shot by an officer of the law in the middle of the street. Whether you believe Michael Brown to be innocent or not, it’s hard to dispute that his death was unjustified. Darren Wilson, the officer who pulled the trigger six times to stop the unarmed boy, may have felt threatened by the teenager. But Michael Brown will now never be able to defend himself, in neither a court of law nor in the court of public opinion. I question how threatening an unarmed teen like Brown may be. Certainly Wil...

Are five of the jobs Walker touts as having created acting gigs? In the latest ad for Gov. Scott Walker, a number of people look at the camera and say , “I got a job.” Problem is, when asked who these people were, the Walker campaign refused to say. It seems the only job we really know for sure that these people got was an acting gig to be in the very ad they say they got a job in . Other than that, it’s a complete mystery. Why won’t Walker’s campaign release the names of these people, or where they got their jobs? Spokeswoman Alleigh Marre says it’s to protect their privacy . Walker spokeswoman Alleigh Marre said the people are “Wisconsinites who are among the thousands of workers who got new jobs during the Walker administration.” She said “the campaign respects the wishes of the private citizens who prefer not to release their personal information.” Emphasis added. That excuse sounds somewhat absurd, however, given that these individuals are starring in a statewide a...

Walker campaign and Republican Party of Wisconsin errantly place job loss blame on Mary Burke, ignoring the Great Recession while doing so I recently wrote about a dubious claim made by Gov. Scott Walker about the number of jobs lost under former Gov. Jim Doyle. The Walker campaign, in their latest television advertisement, implied that 133,000 jobs lost during the Doyle administration were that governor’s fault -- with the assistance of his Commerce Secretary Mary Burke, who is now running a neck-and-neck campaign against Walker. Here's the message that the Walker campaign said in its ad: Mary Burke served as Jim Doyle’s Commerce secretary. She said, “I support Gov. Doyle’s policies entirely.” And when Doyle’s term ended, Wisconsin had lost 133,000 jobs. Then Scott Walker took over as governor, and Wisconsin gained over 100,000 jobs. I pointed out , however, that this line of thinking should cause “anyone with a critical mind to question: just how gullible, how stupid...

To paraphrase a quote from Scott Walker's hero, Ronald Reagan: "There he goes again." The latest ad put out by the Walker campaign repeats a favorite line of the administration -- that we lost 133,000 jobs under the previous governor, and oh by the way, Mary Burke was part of that governor’s cabinet. Mary Burke served as Jim Doyle’s Commerce secretary. She said, “I support Gov. Doyle’s policies entirely.” And when Doyle’s term ended, Wisconsin had lost 133,000 jobs. Then Scott Walker took over as governor, and Wisconsin gained over 100,000 jobs. It’s a line that catches the attention of its viewers, but it also causes anyone with a critical mind to question: just how gullible, how stupid does Gov. Scott Walker think the average voter is? We lost those 133,000 jobs during an economic recession, the worst of any kind seen in more than a couple generations. The global effects of the economic meltdown not only hit Wisconsin, but other states as well, not to ment...

Majority find the law went far enough or should have gone farther in overhauling health care system There’s a big problem with media today: the average consumers of news tend to only read the headline of an article, and, thinking they understand the complete picture, ignore the nuts and bolts of what’s the real story. Several examples of this can be found, but recently I stumbled upon an article describing the Affordable Care Act’s unpopularity, simply titled , “Obamacare Is More Unpopular Than Ever, Poll Shows.” Other headlines are similarly down on the health law, but this one piqued my interest as I read on. It wasn’t until the bottom of the article that the reader realizes that while a majority of Americans find something disapproving of the law, they don’t want it repealed outright: they simply want it fixed. The poll, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation , finds that 60 percent of Americans want Congress to “work to improve the law.” Only 35 percent want Congress to ...